759th Railway Operating Battalion World War II sponsored by Missouri Pacific Lines
759th Rob Wwii
I purchased this on Ebay and then handscanned the entire book. If you would like to donate to this blog please use the Paypal Donate link to the right !
Thanks !

* This s such a great story, thanks so much to Tom for not
only pursuing the research but sharing the story ! This kind of connection happens frequently on this blog because of all the people who share their father’s/ grandfathers military service through stories, documents and photos. If you have something you’d like to share about your Military Railway Veteran contact me today
Nancy -cunnningb2@gmail.com I can help you get items scanned and shared.
Hats off to Tom !

So, timely for Veterans Day: The other day I was talking to this 87-year-old gentleman, David Pirkle, Senior. He resides in the same Assisted Living Facility as my mother, in Alpharetta, Georgia. Born 1925, and, as it turns out, during World War II, he was in the 735th Railway Operating Battalion, Company B, and at the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945.

I told him I'd look on the web for info about his Company.
On a website, militaryrailwayservice.blogspot.com, I found info about the Railway Operating Battalions, and specifically, there was a Carl Vernoy, who was also in the 735th Railway Operating Battalion, Company B, died 1989. Carl's daughter had posted some pictures from her dad's wartime experiences, and one of them had Carl standing next to a David. There'd be like 144 guys in a Company, so there could be a number of Davids, but what if it was the same guy? So the next day I showed him the picture, without any captions or explanation, and asked if any of the guys looked familiar, and right away he pointed to the 2nd guy from the right, and said, "That's me." As it happened, his son arrived a few minutes later, and he too confirmed the identification.
In this web-post, David Pirkle is in the picture of the 4 guys standing outdoors in front of a window in Brussels, February 1945. His buddy Carl Vernoy is next to him on the far right. The guy on the far left may be a Harry Radka, but that's unconfirmed.

The man next to him (second from the left) is unidentified, except that the photo listed him as being later killed in Belgium.
From Left to Right: (Possibly) Harry Radka, Unknown (Killed in Belgium 1945), David Pirkle Senior, and Carl Vernoy. Picture courtesy of Mary Vernoy, Carl's daughter.
David went into Army training right after his 18th birthday in October 1943. He was at Fort McPherson and Fort Benning in Georgia, and later Fort Snelling in Minnesota. Then they were deployed to England, and in October 1944, about 4 months after D-Day, landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy. And then, by December 1944-January 1945 at the Battle of the Bulge.
David described having to clear bodies off the road under enemy fire. As he put it, if the bodies grunted, they went on a truck to a field hospital, if they didn't, they were moved to the side of the road so the trucks and tanks could get by without running them over.

Obviously, made quite an impression on a 19-year-old. By February 1945 he was in Brussels. Possibly after that, he ended up with pneumonia at a field hospital. He described a time they ran out of gasoline and had to use someone's homemade alcohol for fuel in the jeeps. Company B of the 735th commandeered enemy engines and rolling stock.
David references a Captain Andrews who was in charge of Company B, who later died in Germany.
Other members of Company B that David remembers: Carl Vernoy, Harry Radka, and Jim Cherry.
Also, not quite as well as the above, but he remembers a Sgt Chalmer Lavelle and Tec 4 Joseph Shuboney,
Also, 2 men from Company B he didn't recall: Tec 5 Paul Masterson and T Sgt George Rosar.

I obtained these names from a Fort Snelling firearms qualification report report provided by John Lewis, son of Captain Francis Lewis, Company A.
Mr. Pirkle may be the last surviving member of the 735th Railroad Operating Battalion, Company B.
There's more information about the 735th Railway Operating Battalion here, although mostly about members of Company A and C, not B. ( *click on 735th in index on the right)

The photo was taken on (Printed on sign) "CAMP DODGE SEPT. 12, 1917 DES MOINES IOWA".
Taken from a huge 46" long by 10" tall, these 1917 photo are like being in a time machine. Taken during America’s involvement in World War One, the Army Camp is busting with activity.
Super details including Barracks, Tents, Soldiers, Mounted Soldiers, Guns, Army Wagons, Vintage Car, Trucks, Constuction Equipment, Materials, Workers Etc. The photo also features the Railroad yard with Railroad cars from ... ROCK ISLAND, CB & Q, BURLINGTON ROUTE, CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN, INTER-URBAN, UNION PACIFIC, PENNSYLVANIA, FRISCO Etc. There is even a view of a 1917 Motion Moving Passenger Train with a view of the STEAM from the STEAM ENGINE.

Some interesting information on the 708th Grand Railway Division on the Second World War Blog..check it out here

708th Grand Railway Division
The George Burkley Diary was featured in the unsolved history tab for several years and recently the Burkley family contacted me through this site. I have spoke with George Burkley's grandson and have learned many interesting things in regards to Mr. Burkley. My original theory that Mr. Burkley was injured in a V-2 rocket attack in 1945 was correct. He was injured in this attack when a rocket hit the 708th Grand Railway Division HQ. Sadly Mr. Burkley passed away in 1953. As I learn more about Mr. Burkley I will continue to update the attic.
Captain Burkley kept a journal that starts September 9th, 1943 stateside, but then abruptly ends September 6th, 1944 in France. His journal takes the reader from camp in New Orleans to New York for debarkation. His journey across the Atlantic was on none other than the Queen Mary and his entries while in London during the Luftwaffe air raides are nothing less than intriguing. From London he will cross the English Channel to France where some of his entries describe: German pill boxes, dead Germans, the invasion beach heads, and more. Please take the time to peruse the fully transcribed journal featured below. Some excellent entries for reading are: October 24th 1943, July 15th 1944, July 16th 1944, and September 6th 1944.
read on here
Captain George W. Burkley
# 0-500827
708 Railway Grand Division

Thanks so much to the family of T.E. "Steve" Stephenson for this great document !!

T.E. (Steve) Stephenson
March 1, 2012

T.E. (Steve) Stephenson of Duncan, Okla., formerly of Big Spring, Texas, went to be with our Lord and Savior on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. He was born April 3, 1924, in Odell, Wilbarger County, Texas, to George R. and Mary J. Stephenson. As a child, he and his family moved to Romney, Eastland County, Texas, where he lived until he went into the service.
Steve served in the United States Army during World War II in Company B 752nd Railway Operating Battalion. He served 20 months in the European theater. On Nov. 5, 1948, Steve married the love of his life, Maudie Fay Perdue. In 1951, he started his career with Halliburton in Eunice, N.M., and ended it 34 years later in Big Spring, Texas.

Steve is survived by his wife of 63 years, Maudie Perdue Stephenson; son, Terry Stephenson and wife Mary of Midland, Texas; daughter, Vonda Stephenson and life partner Pat Dunham of Big Spring, Texas; son, Stanley Stephenson and wife Patti of Duncan, Okla.; five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Della Pearl Richie of Seminole, Texas, and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, and four sisters.
Steve was a terrific husband, father, PaPa and friend. He loved God, his family and friends. He impacted the lives of most anyone with whom he came into contact. He loved to fish, play cards and dominoes and watch his favorite western movies and sports teams. He will be missed by all who knew him.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 3, 2012, at 2 p.m. at Victory Assembly Church, 208 E. Eighth St., Cisco, Texas, with Pastor Ken McMeans of College Baptist Church of Big Spring, Texas, officiating.

A gathering of family and friends will be held afterward at the Hillside Community Center, which is on the west side of Humble Ave. between E. 10th St. and E. 11th St. in Cisco.
A private burial will be held prior to the memorial service at the Oakwood Cemetery in Cisco, Texas, under the directions of Callaway-Smith-Cobb Funeral Home of Marlow, Okla.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to College Baptist Church, 1105 Birdwell Lane, Big Spring, Texas 79720. 432-267-7429.

From Thomas, Albert Jones' son...
My father, Albert H. Jones, served approximately 3 years in Iran during WWII. Only
recently has he wanted to talk about his experiences. He started with the 754th Railway Shop Battalion and then went to the 730th Railway Operating Battalion. About a year ago I put him in contact with one of his army buddies and they have been sharing pictures. Unfortunately, some of the pictures I have are not the best quality but there are names and notes written on many of them. ( thanks so much to Albert's family for sharing this great info !)
documents

Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010
(requires payment) The BIRLS (Beneficiary Identification Records
Locator Subsystem) Death File contains birth and death dates, and other
information, for more than 14 million veterans who received benefits
from the VA while they were alive.

World War II Electronic Army Serial Number Merged FileThis
database contains records of aboout 9 million men and women who
enlisted in the United States Army, including the Women's Army Auxiliary
Corps (WAAC, later WAC). Although incomplete, the records contain data
for a majority of the enlistments in the US Army during World War II,
including each person's serial number. Also available online at
Fold3/formerly Footnote (easier to search):

World War II & Korean War Veterans Buried Overseas nearly 160,000 listings --
Title of the records in this database: "Register, World War II Dead
Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, and World War
II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea"

World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
(requires payment) from the Fourth Registration, referred to as the
"old man's registration," conducted on 27 April 1942 -- for men born on
or between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897. Digitized WWII fourth
registration draft cards are presently available at Ancestry for the
following states: Alaska, Arkansas (partial), California (partial),
Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana (partial), Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York (partial), Ohio
(partial), Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010
(included with an Ancestry subscription/requires payment); The
Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File
contains birth and death dates, and other information, for more than 14
million veterans who received benefits from the VA while they were
alive.

Missing Air Crew Reports, WWII
(at Fold3) from NARA Microfilm Publication M1380; includes over 16,000
case files of Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) and related records of
the US Army Air Forces, 1942-1947 (searches are free; requires payment
to view the images of the records)

Pearl Harbor Muster Rolls (at Fold3)
detailed muster rolls listing all personnel assigned to ships based at
Pearl Harbor 1939-1947, and those missing or dead (searches are free;
requires payment to view the images of the records)

7/26/2012 - FORT EUSTIS, Va. -- The
U.S. Army Transportation Museum celebrated the 70th birthday of the
Transportation Corps by unveiling its new railyard pavilion at Fort
Eustis July 24. The ceremony ushered in the beginning of a wave of
improvements to the museum.

The pavilion encompasses 45,000 square feet, providing permanent shelter
for the museum's railroad and other macro-artifacts, protecting them
from the elements and providing a more accessible museum experience for
patrons.

According to David Hanselman, the museum director, the project took
approximately 18 months to finish, at a cost of $517,000. The U.S. Army
Transportation Museum Foundation raised the funds for the construction.

"About every five years, any work we've done to protect the artifacts is
nullified by the Virginia weather we battle here. Step one was to get a
roof, and step two is to enclose it in a building, complete with a
concrete floor and climate control," Hanselman explained.

Ultimately, the foundation plans to add a 1940s-era rail station mock-up
inside the pavilion, allowing visitors to tour the interior of the
train cars and locomotives from station platforms.

"We want to fully immerse our visitors in the Army railway experience,"
Hanselman said. "The roof is just the first step in achieving that
goal."

The specially-designed roof does not use load-bearing center beams,
instead relying on 11-by-11-foot concrete footers underground around the
perimeter of the pavilion to support the roof, which Hanselman said is
"about the size of a football field." The roof is designed to withstand
hurricane conditions, a perennial threat in the Hampton Roads region.

This roof allows the foundation to focus on raising funds to complete
the railway pavilion enclosure, and move on to a similar project to
enclose their 25 aircraft artifacts in a pavilion on the opposite side
of the museum grounds.

Retired Army Col. James Rockey, the foundation president, unveiled the
pavilion before a crowd of Transportation Corps alumni, railroad
industry representatives and excited guests.

"It's so very important to preserve these relics of our history, and
we're excited and honored to have been able to do that, and look forward
to making our museum even better," Rockey said.

Brig. Gen. Stephen Farmen, U.S. Army Chief of Transportation, traveled
from nearby Fort Lee, Va., to attend the ceremonies, and observe the
foundation's accomplishment.

"I've been watching this from its infancy, and if you saw this even just
two months ago, you would be amazed at the amount of work that's gone
on to bring it to the level that it's at today," said Farmen, as the
audience applauded in approval.

"Here we are on our 70th birthday, and to have this dedication take place, we couldn't be more thrilled," the general continued.

Hanselman and Rockey said the foundation estimates the entire project
will cost approximately $5 million, and will rely on foundation
fundraising to continue construction.

The U.S. Army Transportation Museum, which opened in 1959 and relocated
to its current located in 1976, boasts an artifact collection of
approximately 7,000 objects and roughly 1,000 exhibit props. The
collection includes nearly 100 macro-artifacts, ranging from planes,
helicopters, tugboats and landing craft to trucks, jeeps, hovercraft and
trains.

Some of the unique items in the collection include the only surviving
gun truck from the Vietnam War, and the only surviving hovercraft to see
combat in Vietnam. The museum also houses a unique collection of
experimental aircraft, and the first helicopter to fly at the South
Pole.

Editor's note: Want to visit the new
railyard pavilion and experience the Army's transportation history? The
U.S. Army Transportation Museum is located at 300 Washington Blvd., and
is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.http://www.jble.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123311583

Harry Ruyle Trager was
born December 20, 1912 in Indianapolis, IN. Trager entered the service of the
New York Central System Railroad on December 12, 1936 as a yard brakeman and
was promoted to yard conductor on September 3, 1941. On February 26, 1941
Trager left the service of the New York Central System to be inducted into the
Army's Military Railroad Service on March 6, 1942 at Fort Benjamin Harrison at
Indianapolis, IN. Pfc. Trager was assigned to Company C of the 729th ROB and
was deployed to the European Theatre of Operations. Pfc. Trager served in
England, France, and Germany and was awarded the Combat Infantry Man's Badge
with Oak Leaves, the Rifle Sharpshooters Badge, the Decoration Medal for Good
Conduct, the Medal for Campaign and Service Victory World War II, the Medal for
Campaign and Service EAME Campaign Complete, and the Medal for Army of
Occupation Germany. Pfc. Trager was discharged from the U.S. Army at Camp
Attebury, IN on August 20, 1945. Harry Ruyle Trager continued his railroad
service with New York Central System and Penn Central through the 1970s and
counting MRS service accrued almost forty years on the railroad

While my grandfather was
deployed to the European Theatre of Operations he fell from the top of a train
and fractured his leg. On September 25th, 1942 he was admitted to the
Derbyshire Royal Infirmary for the fracture and here are some photos from his
stay. My grandfather didn't know a stranger. I honestly believe during his
hospital stay he made friends with everyone there, thus the photos.

While my grandfather was
deployed to the European Theatre of Operations he fell from the top of a train
and fractured his leg. On September 25th, 1942 he was admitted to the Derbyshire
Royal Infirmary for the fracture and here are some photos from his stay. My
grandfather didn't know a stranger. I honestly believe during his hospital stay
he made friends with everyone there, thus the photos.

From August 1941 and July 1942 the 711th Railway Operating Battalion with help from the 91st and 93rd Engineer Battalions, constructed a 47.66 mile railroad in Louisiana between the Missouri Pacific Railroad which served Camp Claiborne, LA and the Kansas City Southern Railway that served Camp Polk, LA. Known as the Claiborne – Polk Military Railway (C&P) it became the primary Army owned and operated facility for “technical” training of Military Railway Service (MRS) units. Informally known as the Crime and Punishment, the line afforded the Army total flexibility for tactical training in basic railroad operations.

Today Camp Claiborne is a forest of mature trees interlaced with decaying roads and building foundations. While a short segment of the C&P continues in service at Fort Polk, the balance of the right of way is trackless but with use of topographic map and back roads can be located at many locations. Still inscribed in the Camp Claiborne enginehouse foundation are the initials C, RI, & P RR from the 725th ROB. Otherwise with the exception of a plaque by the still existing main gate, little marks the existence of this once thriving military base and even less of the C&P training railroad.

George William "Bill" Myers Jr. Obituary
CHILLICOTHE: George William "Bill" Myers, Jr. passed away on August 4, 2012 at Heartland Nursing Facility, at the age of 91. He was born in Chillicothe on December 28, 1920 to Mary and George W. Myers Sr.
Bill is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Elizabeth Mossbarger Myers; daughters and sons-in-law, Terressa and William Reep, and Elizabeth "Beth" and Everett "Bud" Montgomery; grandchildren: Jenny Marie Dennis, Charles "Chad" and his wife, Megan; great-grandson, Benjamin Myers Dennis; step-grandchildren: James and Amy Montgomery, and Shawna and Bryan Gibson; step-grandchildren: Bryce Montgomery and Addy Gibson; and several special nephews and nieces.
He was predeceased by his parents, a sister, Martha Daws; and brothers: Samuel and Earl.
Bill graduated from Centralia High School in 1938. He was a veteran of the 726th Railway Operating Battalion during World War II, serving in China, Burma, and India. He was awarded a Bronze Star in addition to other war related medals.

The Masonic Lodge and affiliations were an important part of Bill's life.

Other memberships include Chillicothe Elks Lodge #52, Veterans of the Foreign Wars Post 108, American Legion Post #134, and AMVETS.

Bill retired after 45 years of service on the CSX, formerly the Baltimore and Ohio, where he was Trainmaster. He began his railroad career firing on steam engines. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00pm Wednesday, August 8, at the Haller Funeral Home. Military graveside services, conducted by the Ross Co. Veterans Honor Guard, will follow in Grandview Cemetery. Friends may call Tuesday from 5-7pm at Haller Funeral Home, where a Masonic Funeral will be conducted at 7pm.

The 770th Railway Operating Battalion was organized in New Mexico in September, 1942, as Engineer Railway Detachment 9646A. In April, 1943, it was redesignated as the 770th Railway Operating Battalion. The unit operated the narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Railway from October 1, 1942 to October 22, 1944 after which it left Alaska.

This document is the Traffic and Operation Survey of the White Pass and Yukon Route Rail Division. It is a survey of the physical and operating characteristics of the railroad as well as the statistical traffic record of the unit during the war. The survey was designed, compiled, and edited by Sgt. Ralph Brown and assisted by Paul W. Malcolm. The document includes general
information, a traffic statement concerning operations, reports of interruptions, and a list of rolling stock and equipment.

This survey was acquired from Mr. Lyman Woodman of Anchorage, Alaska in 1981. Mr. Woodman received it from the author Ralph Brown.

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If you have any materials connected to these great Army Railway units please share them here with the families of the soldiers. If you are a collector or memorabilia dealer PLEASE share copies or scans of items BEFORE you sell these priceless materials to private collectors . I will hold the copies until after they sell. It means so much to the families of the guy's that actually served in these units.

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